Ricardo Rossello

Ricardo Antonio Rossello Nevares (7 March 1979-) was Governor of Puerto Rico from 2 January 2017 to 2 August 2019, succeeding Alejandro Garcia Padilla and preceding Pedro Pierluisi.

Biography
Ricardo Antonio Rossello Nevares was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1979, the son of Governor Pedro Rossello. He worked as a medical researcher at Duke University and co-founded the Beijing Prosperous Biofarm, and he became involved in politics in 2008. Rossello was a Hillary Clinton delegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and a Barack Obama delegate in 2012, and he became a political commentator and founded a pro-statehood political advocacy group in 2010. In 2016, as the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico candidate, he was elected Governor. Rossello was a centrist who supported the legalization of medical marijuana but opposed its recreational use, and he also opposed same-sex marriage rights. He faced a severe government debt crisis during his tenure, as well as the effects of Hurricane Maria. In 2018, he managed to reduce Puerto Rican unemployment to 9.3%, the lowest in regional history, and he incorporated school vouchers and charter schools into Puerto Rico's education system. In July 2019, however, he was revealed to have made a death threat to San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin in a Telegram group chat, and made several vulgar, homophobic, and racist comments on the chat. The publication of the comments on 8 July 2019 led to massive protests in which 20 were injured and 16 were arrested, and Rossello announced on 24 July that he would resign on 2 August 2019. Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez Garced refused to replace him, so Pedro Pierluisi became the new Governor.